A hundred miles to the west of Shunjun City, there is a small city called Tanliang, which is not very large but has thousands of elite Xia troops stationed there. This is not only the only way for the Xixia court to transport grain and supplies to Shunjun City, but also an important place for the Xifeng family to store military grain and grass.
If Xifeng, who is good at doing business, is often in charge of the food and clothing of tens of thousands of people in Shunjun City, then this grain city is related to the stability of the entire Xifeng clan, and even the entire Eastern Front of Xixia. Precisely because this place plays such a crucial role, every one or two months, Hosofonano Chang will come to check it out in person.
It was the same today. Early in the morning, Xifeng Yechang, surrounded by hundreds of personal guards, wandered around dozens of granaries in this small town. At the same time, he listened to the guards here reporting to him the events of the past few days. The food and grass were paid for in and out, and his face was solemn, not daring to be careless in the slightest.
It wasn't until his subordinates reported everything and confirmed that it was correct that Xi Fengye Chang smiled and said: "You did a good job. With such sufficient preparations, we don't have to worry this winter. I will reward you heavily when the time comes." "This general guarding such an important city is naturally a close member of his Xifeng clan, so there is no need to ask the court for a reward.
It wasn't until he finished handling the business here that a close personal guard came forward and reported in a low voice: "Clan Chief, news just came back from Shunjun City that everyone under the Eighth Young Master has left the city..."
After hearing this, Xi Feng Yechang raised his eyebrows slightly: "Why can't he keep calm? Has he left the city too?"
"The Eighth Young Master should not be in the city, but we did not find him traveling with Sun Qianli and others."
"Hmph, this Sun Qianli is really brave. He actually dared to lead people to fight against the horse thieves, just because he wanted to save his friend?" Xi Fengye Chang suddenly frowned with dissatisfaction: "If Xifeng Changzhen is really hurt by this, I will skin him!" After saying this, Xifeng Yechang, who originally looked quite elegant and gentle, suddenly felt a fierce murderous intention coming out of him, frightening those around him. Everyone was frightened for a while, and they didn't even dare to breathe.
As the commander-in-chief of the Xixia Kingdom who has guarded the eastern frontier for many years, and as the head of the clan who has allowed the Xifeng clan to survive despite the continued expansion of the Xia Kingdom’s imperial power, Xifeng Yechang is certainly not as good as it seems on the surface. Simple and easy-going. In the past, he was also a figure who came out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. More than tens of millions of people died because of his orders. Even though he has become much more low-key and gentle now, once he gets angry, he can still frighten his subordinates.
In addition, as the commander-in-chief of Shunjun City, how could everything happening in the city be hidden from his eyes and ears? In fact, he had found out what he thought was a clever method of fine feudalism long before it was implemented. The reason why he left the city and came to Tanliang City this time was actually to promote the fight between the two sons. He wanted to see the details. Which one is better, feudalism or fine feudalism
But what his two sons showed now made him very dissatisfied. When he returned to his villa, Xi Fengye Chang's face was still gloomy: "These two are still too young and have too many problems." .Xi Fengjun thinks he is stronger than his younger brother, so he can act unscrupulously, and actually colludes with the horse thieves. If there is a mistake, I will see how he ends up! And Xi Fengchang, since he knows that he is not Xi Fengjun's opponent, this What you should do now is to be patient or give up on this batch
Goods, or surrendering and getting gold in exchange for people and goods, that was at least a wise choice.
"But what did he do? He actually tried to fight to the death with an enemy several times larger with the few troops he had. Did he think he was really strong enough to fight one against a hundred? And that Sun Qianli actually encouraged him to do this You really deserve to be killed for making such a decision!”
Xifeng Yechang's angry performance made all the confidants in front of him stay silent and dare not speak out. Only one person said after he vented for a while: "Clan leader, in fact, this is really not the fault of Xi Fengchang. He has no useful people under him, and he has been suppressed by Xi Feudal. And with Sun Qianli's encouragement, naturally it is I’m thinking about venting my anger.”
"Hmph, this is what I think he did most wrongly. After all, Sun Qianli is just a subordinate who has recently come to join him, and he is also a Han from the Liao Kingdom. How can we trust him so much? If we are like him, I will The Feng clan, like other clans, was devoured until their bones were gone decades ago. Is it still in such a situation today?"
After a pause, he sighed and said: "Ask the people over there to take care of me. It doesn't matter if some people die, but I still have to protect Xifengchang. He is my son after all."
"Don't worry, Patriarch, I have already asked the Xiguan Army outside Shunjun City to come over and respond early in the morning. Nothing will happen."
Hearing this, Xifeng Yechang's face looked better: "Yeli, you should do the right thing. It seems that these two sons will temporarily suppress them when we go back this time. Originally, I wanted to let Xifeng Chang went to Xingqing Mansion on my behalf to celebrate the emperor's birthday this time, but now I have to change someone, how about you go on this trip?"
Xifeng Yeli immediately declined: "The emperor's birthday is in November. I'm afraid I won't be able to come back this year. The situation among the Three Kingdoms is changing now, and I don't want to miss such a good opportunity."
"Haha, you, you don't want to help me. Well, if you don't want to go, then don't go. Let's talk about the candidates. Anyway, there is still some time to choose." Xi Fengye Chang was not dissatisfied because of the other party's polite refusal, but smiled. He said that he was quite satisfied with Xifeng Yeli's loyalty.
Only then did the anger he felt because of his two sons slowly dissipate, and those around him finally breathed a sigh of relief.
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At the same time, a cavalry team of about two hundred people had appeared outside the Nanshan bandit's lair a hundred and fifty miles south of Shunjun City.
It was a trumpet-shaped valley. From a distance, Sun Tu and the others could see several shabby flags fluttering in the wind over the valley. There were people in front of the valley who had already seen their arrival, so soon, there were Hundreds of cavalry rumbled out of the valley to greet them.
Like the Song Dynasty, there were many bandits and bandits running rampant in Xixia at this time. However, unlike the Song state bandits who occupied the mountains and ruled the country, most of the bandits here were horse thieves, and their lairs also changed frequently. The valley is just their temporary foothold.
Although there was some distance between them, the situation on the other side of the valley still completely fell into Sun Tu's eyes, making him shake his head repeatedly. This kind of bandit lair has no defense at all, and there are not many people, only about five hundred people. With such a small number of troops and no danger to defend, if they were in the Song Dynasty, they would have been wiped out by the local officials long ago. But it's better here. Listen to me.
People mentioned that this group of Nanshan bandits had been causing trouble in Shunjun City for many years. It was unknown whether it was because they could not be found or for other reasons, so the Xifeng clan actually turned a blind eye to this.
Sun Tu thought about these things casually. When the other party approached, he also urged his horse to meet him. Without waiting for the other party to speak, he had already shouted and asked: "Is there any harm to the people of my Xi Feng clan?"
The ferocious-looking strong man was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and said casually: "Everyone is still alive..." Then he woke up a little, glared, and shouted: "You are not the one who calls the shots here today. Where’s the gold?”
Sun Tu then smiled softly and waved his hand. Then a cavalryman stepped forward, untied a leather bag on his back and showed it. The golden thing there was the bag full of gold ingots. It seemed that the quantity was indeed huge. As many as several hundred taels.
At this time, a ray of sunlight happened to shine on the gold in the bag, reflecting golden light, which dazzled the eyes of the horse bandits opposite, and also made them all show greedy expressions. At that moment, the leader shouted urgently: "Bring the gold quickly, or we will kill everyone right now!"
"That can't be done. You have seen the gold, but you haven't seen the people and goods we want. How dare I hand over the gold to you at this time?" Sun Tu shook his head and followed his hand. In a flash, the cavalryman quickly picked up his leather bag, reined in his horse, and retreated.
"You..." The horse bandits suddenly became angry, and they all stared at him hatefully, as if they might come to rob him at any time. But at this time, the guards behind Sun Tu quickly showed their bows, arrows and scimitars, which made the other party dare not attack immediately. The leader could only say bitterly: "Okay, I will give you the goods and people right now." Send it here, don't play any tricks, otherwise..." As he spoke, he made a gesture, and someone raised his hand and shot a loud arrow.
A moment later, there was another commotion in the valley ahead, and then Sun Tu and the others saw dozens of vehicles and hundreds of people approaching, escorted by about two hundred horse thieves armed with weapons. When they got closer, everyone could finally see clearly that the car was indeed filled with various kinds of cloth, salt bags and other goods. As for the prisoners, all of them looked frightened. The sharp-eyed Sun Tu found them at a glance. Huangfu Duan is among them.
It wasn't until he saw that he was safe and sound that Sun Tu relaxed a little, as long as he was fine.
Soon, these people and the goods came to the front, and then they were stopped by the horse thieves. The leader then stared at Sun Tu and the others and said, "Hand over the gold, and the goods and people can be taken away!"
Sun Tu, however, did not rush to do as he was told. He just looked at the horse thieves and said, "Did you know that what you were robbing this time was the goods from Shunjun City? Aren't you afraid of being surrounded and suppressed by the army afterwards? I thought it was too late for you to stop at this time... "
"What nonsense! Hand over the gold quickly! If we were afraid of the people in Shunjun City, we wouldn't have been looting here for several years!" The leader shouted again impatiently.
At this time, Sun Tu's eyes suddenly looked beyond these horse thieves who were fascinated by the gold, and looked at the seemingly peaceful valley behind them. He slightly raised the corner of his mouth and said, "Then don't regret it!" Then he signaled. The cavalryman sent the leather bag filled with gold. This made the horse thieves on the opposite side suddenly show expressions of excitement and greed, unaware that drastic changes were coming...